Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Miscellaneous Stuff


I’m beat and so this is going to be a rambling collection of a few things on my mind. Spring is here and the dogwoods are blooming. It is beautiful and luckily we’re beginning to get some rain which has cleansed the air from various pollens that gave me sinus headaches most days last week.

I now have an index of my writings posted. You can to this site and find post by categories… Yes, I really write satire and poetry, just not recently, but you can find old examples of both here.. And if you are looking for my famous cornbread recipe, you can find it here. Check it out!

And although I’m really a winter kind of guy, there are some things that I love to do in the summer. I found a picture of Johnny Mercer’s pier on a blog from North Carolina (heaven on earth for those of you who haven’t been blessed by the Old North State). Thank you Friday Night Fish Fry for allowing me to post it. Can believe people's already on the water down there, but it is May isn't it? I use to spend a lot of time at Johnny Mercer’s, when it was a wooden pier that creaked and moaned when you walked on it. It was classic. Right down the street was the Palm Room and Oyster Bar, where you could get a drink and oysters on the half-shell served with hot sauce or bit of horseradish. That’s all still there, but it's a private club now. Every time a hurricane came through, the pier became a little bit shorter until it barely made it out beyond the breakers. A few years ago they replaced the wooden structure with this cement pier. The charm is gone and they now charge you just to walk on it. We’ll see how long it stands. What is it that the good book says about a house built on sand?

I forgot about Administrative Assistant day last week. I didn’t think about it until driving home when they had a piece about it on NPR It use to be Secretary Day, but Hallmark has gone politically correct. In order to amend for my sin of omission, the next morning, between meeting someone for breakfast and rushing into the office, I went into a local shop (or should that be shoppe since it was a trendy place) and picked out an orchid for K. It was by far the best orchid on display, much nicer than the one I got last year and cost about the same number of greenbacks. There were eight or so blooms on the plant and another four buds ready to bloom. My assistant seemed pleased (she had also forgotten about the day, so it didn't matter that it came a day late). Today I was admiring the plant on her desk and wondered out-loud about when those buds were going to open up. K. laughed. Then I looked closely at the flower for the first time realized it’s a silk plant. Those buds will never open! They’ll be held in eternal suspense. K said she prefers this artificial flower to the real ones I got her last year. I don’t know if she said this to make me feel better or because the one I gave her last year began to die a week later.

15 comments:

  1. Hey Sage :)
    All the piers (or jetties) around here are still wooden & I can't imagine someone trying to charge you for walking on them. They'd probably get bashed if they tried it here.
    I think your asst was being sincere. She'll be able to enjoy the silk plant a lot longer.
    P.S. When do you reckon they'll have a full-time student, mother, cook, chauffeur & maid day?

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  2. Good lord, that sounds like something I would have done... giving a fake flower as a gift. Now what are you going to do next year when that silk flower is still sitting on her desk?

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  3. Where exactly in NC is that pier...

    I love Friday Night Fish Fry. She's one of my favorite places to visit, and she always shares the greatest pics.

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  4. That must be a relaistic silk orchid....LOL. Actually, some of them are so real-looking you simply cannot tell the difference without feeling the petals.

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  5. Have never been to the beaches in North Carolina

    About four years I realized that there had been too many hurricanes and too many screwed up vacations so I began using airline miles to get to California and Hawaii--where the prices are cheaper than NY/NJ---much--and there's always good weather in summer--but they're not the beaches I'm used to--wonderous white sand ones--Long Island might be a joke, but it has some of the greatest beaches anywha

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  6. oy...that sounds exactly like something I'd do! Then I'd be embarrassed to high heaven, I'm sure. Your assistant has definite grace.

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  7. If Hallmark thought it could sell a few more cards, I'm sure they'd have a full-time student, mother, cook, chauffeur & maid day... Until then, May 14 will have to do! Don't they celebrate Mother's Day down there?

    Murf, suppose I've always been a good swimmer so never worried about falling off. Besides, I always wanted to dive off the pier but you got in trouble if you did it.

    Ed, she likes chocolate! but she shares it and since I have no will power when it comes to chocolate...

    Dena, Wrightsville Beach

    Kenju, yes, it's realistic and I just pointed at it and said I wanted that one and since it cost the same as the real ones (which didn't look as good)... I never knew.

    Pia, yes, the East Coast white sandy beaches are wonderful--but the storms do tend to mess things up.

    Dawn, yes, she's both graceful and very good and keeps me straight most of the time and often bails me out (of course, she hasn't yet had to bail me out of jail, except for some fundraiser)!

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  8. "my famous cornbread recipe"...

    ...sounds yummy, i'll havta give it a try!

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  9. Well, it is the thought that counts.

    Ya know, I'm not really any one season type person. I like winter, except for the cold. And I'm fond of summer, except for the heat.

    Great index Sage-man. I was unaware of your time as a Katrina Relief Worker. From the pics and the posts I see it was a wonderful, uplifting adventure. I just want to say thanks for volunteering.

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  10. love the beach pic! I can find something to smile about any season but I love a relaxing day at the beach best.

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  11. Ah, dogwood -- the white-flowering kind. The leaves, too, they're so delicate, so green. And in the fall. . . Yosemite's a great place to see dogwood.

    As for orchids, I understand they're supposed to be easy to care for, but though I've had plenty, they've never bloomed for me. Just two or three tough, leathery leaves, lost of roots, and some bark.

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  12. Well, we are looking forward to Mother's Day but maybe it should be renamed to something like my suggestion above :)
    I bet you'd have a fit over the beaches around here!

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  13. Karen, you'll now have to try my hushpuppies--I just posted the recipe.

    V, glad you found the index helpful. Since I tend to write about a lot of stuff, I thought it would at least help me find stuff! It was an honor even if hard work to spend a week in NOLA.


    Kontan, even though I like the winter, I still like spending time on the beach (which isn't Lake Michigan) in the summer--a week is already scheduled for August.

    Ing, Yosemite is heavenly!!! nuff said!

    Daydreamer, someday maybe I'll get to the Australian beaches, if I don't decide to get lost for good in the New Zealand Mountains first.

    Murf, there were a few other reasons--it was generally done in the winter when they weren't anyone around.

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  14. "Johnny Mercer’s pier"..that one got a grin from me, I haven't been to that pier in far too long but of course am familiar with it.

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  15. I was just going through some bookmarks that I haven't been to in awhile and thought, I've seen that photo before! Friday Night Fish Fry is my sister. Looking at your Blogger profile I notice that we've got very similar taste in literature. Hesse, Vonnegut and Dostoevsky made my favorite authors list as well. Interesting post about the blue racers, that was quite the project.

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